The HRC Board’s only trans member and co-chair for diversity Donna Rose has resigned over the organization’s refusal to actively oppose the deflated ENDA:
Less than a month ago HRC President Joe Solmonese stood before almost 900 transgender people at the Southern Comfort Conference in Atlanta to pledge ongoing support and solidarity. In his keynote address he indicated that not only would HRC support only a fully inclusive ENDA, but that it would actively oppose anything less. That single pledge changed hearts and minds that day, and the ripple affect throughout the transgender community was that we finally were one single GLBT community working together. Sadly, recent events indicate that those promises were hollow.
An impressive coalition of local and national organizations has lined up to actively oppose the divisive strategy that would leave some of our brothers and sisters without workplace protections. This effort has galvanized community spirit and commitment in ways few could have imagined, and it has demonstrated to those who would divide us that anything less than full inclusion is unacceptable.
…
There is a single significant organization glaringly missing from that list. The Human Rights Campaign has chosen not to be there.
Damn, girl…
.
Ash
Good for her, what an eloquent, classy, well-crafted yet scathing statement. Joe Solomnese and his cohorts are a bunch of assholes, and not the good kind.
Qjersey
Good for her, but HRC never should have made that promise in the first place.
There is no way that ENDA will pass if it’s trans inclusive. Sorry, but that’s the pragmatic reality. Again it’s an issue of gay rights and trans rights being similar struggles, but so different. Yeah the big hang ups with GENDA are conservatives freaked out about school teachers coming out as trans and what bathroom trans folks should use. And it doesn’t help that the media loves to focus on middle aged trans women who don’t “pass” all that well.
There isn’t even consensus in the among lesbian and gay folks about this, but you would never know it…because its always some “talking” head from an urban enclave somewhere speaking “for” the community.
Okay rambling….
Heather_L_James
That wasn’t even the best quote from her statement, in my opinion. The closing paragraph brings it all home…
“The time is here for leaders to lead, for those who say they stand for community to act forcefully and with purpose. Anything less is to forsake the pillars of Equality for the empty promise of something less. The word that we have for that in our language is “Courage”. It’s the kind of courage it takes for GLBT people to show up for work each and every day, living authentically, wondering if that will be their last day. I call on my brothers and sisters at the Human Rights Campaign, for Speaker Pelosi and Congressman Frank, and for equality-minded leaders everywhere to lead by example and to do the right thing. ”
I have nothing but the upmost respect for Donna, but walking away from HRC will make it all the easier to throw us under the bus in the future. The schism that the right wants within our community is happening right before our eyes. This is a sad day for all queer people.
The full text of Donna’s statement can be found here…
http://outfordemocracy.org/arch/000675.html
el polacko
look.. nobody wants to see anybody else discriminated against, but gay and trans are NOT the same thing. wouldn’t it be better to finally get a federal non-discrimination law for a sexual minority on the books from which to build rather than to turn on our supporters like spoiled children demanding that the whole LGBTQRHDMXYZ ‘community’ be covered this instant or we would rather not have any rights at all ?!?
Lena Dahlstrom
The problem with “we’ll come back for you later” is: It. Doesn’t. Happen.
Six years ago, gender identity was stripped from ENDAs in New York and New Jersey. Today it’s still missing and trans groups have been left to fend for themselves on this issue.
17 years ago, sexual orientation got ENDA protections in Massachusetts. Gender identity still isn’t protected.
Same thing in Wisconsin, which passed sexual orientation ENDA protections 18 years ago.
More to the point, as Lamba Legal pointed out, omitting gender identity opens a huge loophole for careful bigots to fire anyone who’s not straight-acting. And yes, Virginia, there IS legal court precedents that says you can be fired for more being masculine/feminine — even if you’re straight.
As Lamba says, without gender identity protections they may not be able to fire you for being gay/lesbian, but they CAN fire you if they think you fit the stereotype of being gay/lesbian. Is that really a victory?
Ryan
No, Lena, but this is a figurative war we’re waging – not a game of football. We have to win one battle at a time. If we keep losing these battles, it’s a war we’ll never win. I’m sorry that trans folk are being left under the bus in several states, but that should only be a rallying call.
Yet, it doesn’t mean we can’t keep taking the battles we can win now. It’s a long battle and, unfortunately, is the type where people are only beginning to be educated on. Most people have zero understanding of what it means to be transgendered. Sadly, that means they have all the more fear and distrust. It’s the long term battle we’re fighting on a different field – and it must be fought – but it doesn’t mean we should throw glb people under the bus either and effectively ignore that front.
At the very least we could have likely gotten an ENDA of some kind on George Bush’s desk. He probably would have vetoed it, which would have been a vastly unpopular decision. The media would have covered it and we could have used that opportunity to go on the offensive on everything from ENDA, GENDA and even DADT. The more we show how we’re being mistreated on the media, the more people will learn, the faster they’ll demand change. I bet most people in this country didn’t know you could be fired simply for being gay: by not pushing ENDA at all costs, millions of people won’t get to know that for a long time to come. We could have just killed our chance to pass ENDA for 5-10 years. I hope all the vicious in-fighters of our movement (most people?) are happy.